BESTSELLERS : Fiction

Southern California ranking: (1) THE LOST WORLD by Michael Crichton. (Knopf: $25.95.) What is extinction? Six years after the end of Jurassic Park, and something has survived.(1)

Last Week: 2

Weeks on List: 8

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Southern California ranking: (2) THE HUNDRED SECRET SENSES by Amy Tan. (Putnam: $24.95.) Another tale of a woman caught between East and West.(2)

Last Week: 1

Weeks on List: 4

****

Southern California ranking: (3) THE HORSE WHISPERER by Nicholas Evans. (Delacorte Press: $23.95.) A beautiful journalist escapes type-A New York and a dubious marriage to find love on the range in Montana.(3)

Southern California ranking: (5) THE CHRISTMAS BOX by Richard Paul Evans. (Simon & Schuster: $12.95.) With the help of an old widow and a box of love letters, a young family learns the true meaning of Christmas. (8)

Last Week: -

Weeks on List: 1

****

Southern California ranking: (6) FINDING MOON by Tony Hillerman. (HarperCollins: $24.) After 25 years, the novelist shifts from the Southwest to Southeast Asia in 1975. (8)

Southern California ranking: (8) DAVID BRINKLEY: A MEMOIR by David Brinkley. (Knopf: $25.) Life in the South, national crises and political antics remembered by one of broadcast journalism's veterans.(9)

Last Week: -

Weeks on List: 1

****

Southern California ranking: (9) DAVID LETTERMAN'S BOOK OF TOP TEN LISTS by David Letterman and the "Late Show With David Letterman" writers. (Bantam: $16.)

Rankings are based on The Times' poll of local bookstores. National rankings (parentheses) are those of Publishers Weekly. For information on Times bestsellers, call (213) 237-4336 after 11 a.m. on Wednesdays.

Paperbacks

FICTION

1. THE LOTTERY WINNER by Mary Higgins Clark. (Pocket: $6.99.)

2. MIRROR IMAGE by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik. (Berkley: $6.99.)

3. DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART by Dean Koontz. (Ballantine: $7.99.)

4. THE STONE DIARIES by Carol Shields. (Penguin: $10.95.)

5. HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT by Whitney Otto. (Ballantine: $6.99.)